Is Old Labor EB2 valid in PERM?

[Bill629]

Hi,

I am in US since June 2000, my VISA is expiring jan 2006. I have applied (EB2/RIR) Labor in Sep 2003 in PA, state got cleared in 1 month, its been 2 years in Federal, and got struck in Philly Backlog center, my employer says he replied to the 45 days letter 3 months back. Suddenly now he says there are many queries raising by INS about his company and chances of Labor clearance is low. So, he is suggesting to apply for Labor again with PERM now. I would appreciate if anyone put some of their knowledge or their experiences to give me a better idea what to do. I have few questions:
1. Since my VISA is expiring Jan 2006, when should I apply for extension? Is it better to do Joint file with my spouse (but she is in India right now and be back to US in Nov).
2. If I apply again for Labor thru PERM, how long its gonna take to clear Labor. my company is in MD and PA, I am in NJ.
3. Will my old Labor (filed in Sep 2003) cancels, if I apply for PERM now?
3. Can use old Labor Priority Date while filing 140 after PERM got cleared?

As per other forums, I came to know that if we apply for PERM now, the GC is expected after 5-6 years. Please give me some ideas.

Thanks all for your efforts.

 

[Bill629]

Any Ideas please....

 

[sms10k]

PLease see answer below,

1. You can apply for H1 extension starting at 6 months prior to expiry of th eold H1.
2. It depends on which center your Perm is going to go. I think there are two Perm centers, Chicago and Atlanta. The later is faster. Usually it is taking 3 months to get a decision.
3. It is a grey area right now. There is an option where you can convert your old application to Perm to keep the priority date, but the risk is that if Perm gets denied, so does the previous one along with it. So it is kind of risky at the moment until DOL says that it is ok to file PERM on top of old LC clearly.
4. I think you can use the old priority date only if you get your previous Labor converted to PERM?